Bellagio Forum members met in Stuttgart, Germany on October 5-6. Their second meeting in 2005, the members, along with a number of guests interested in the Forum’s activities, learned about and discussed topics related to dematerialization and well as finance. 

Beck opened the day’s events by welcoming the international slate of guests to his city. He explained how Stuttgart was once one of the poorest regions in Europe, sending waves of immigrants both east to Russia and west to North America. Today, as a result of the technical advancement, it is the main city in an extremely wealthy region that produces some of the world’s top luxury automobiles. However, the problems caused by that technical innovation were also challenges that he was working to overcome.

Commenting on the mayor’s remarks, BFSD chairman, Michael Hölz, pointed out, “The mayor’s comments are incredibly important. The fact that more than half of the world’s population will soon live in cities means that we all share a common challenge and desire to make certain that cities are livable and sustainable with respect to their relationship with the land. Reducing their ecological footprint is a necessary goal.”

Following reports on the progress of the BFSD working groups, Alan AtKisson opened the session on dematerialization by drawing the members’ attention to the strange occurrences that are happening in the ocean with regard to squid. The point was that squid appeared to be filling the ecological niche that humans had unintentionally opened by over-fishing. Recognizing that this very significant change is just another in a huge series of signs that man’s activities are altering the earth’s system in unknown ways, Atkisson stated, “It is a fact of our historical situation that we are running out of time.”  Although recognizing the enormity of the task, he nevertheless challenged the Bellagio Forum to “do more” to draw attention, initiate projects and work for change in a system that was very resistant to change. Atkisson’s presentation can be downloaded here.

Edmund Blamey of Interface Europe then explained how his company has set itself the challenge of being completely sustainable by 2020. Interface’s has consistently cut its use of materials over the last decade – saving more than $250 million in the process. Concurrently, the flooring company also recognizes that, “flows of material are not a bad thing; it’s the type of material and whether the flow is cyclical or linear that is important”. Blamey explained that if clean water is taken from nature, it is necessary to put back clean water; waste, such as man-made chemicals that is dumped into the environment to be dealt with by natural processes is simply taking real costs and giving them to others or future generations to deal with.   You can download his presentation here.

Michel Wiedemann, Manager of Product & Performance Evaluation at Bayer, provided an overview of how one of the world’s largest companies has approached the issue. Bayer’s products play a key role both in keeping people around the world healthy as well as insuring that farmers are able to produce enough food to feed a growing population. Concurrently, Bayer has developed processes throughout its business to reduce its energy, water and chemical inputs as well as the waste that results. This also includes teaching clients to use its products most efficiently.

On the topic of Dematerialization, Stephanie Weiss Gerhardt of the Aachener Foundation explained how she had worked to bring awareness and increase the learning process on this important issue. She highlighted both the problem we face and how dematerialization can play a large role in helping the world economy move toward a more sustainable development. The Aachener Foundation, through its Resource Input Optimization (R.I.O.) Prize as well as the Factor X website (www.faktor-x.info) helps to raise awareness and promote progress on dematerliaztion. Her presentation can be downloaded here.

As the discussion then shifted to the topic of finance, the members concentrated primarily on issues related to aligning the manner in which foundations manage their assets with their overall mission.

Steve Smith provided an overview of how a variety of companies and organizations are using modern processes and innovative financial mechanisms to encourage the development of new technologies and sustainable business practices. He sees the trend moving in such a way that, “There will be a time when there is no other type of investment than sustainable investment”. Concurrently he noted that the Silicon Valley- like infrastructure necessary for channeling venture capital and incubating new ideas and companies that are ecologically sustainable does not yet exist. He challenged the Bellagio Forum to think about ways in which leaders and young entrepreneurs might be better supported in this endeavor.

Jed Emerson gave some insight into the different options opened to foundations and which ones had been acting as pioneers to take it forward. Noting that most foundations still follow the “Rape, Pillage and Philanthropy model,” in which they use 95% of their assets without any thought or connection to the manner in which they are trying to fulfill their mission with the remaining 5%. Emerson was adamant that “you cannot disaggregate the value proposition” and enlightened the Forum’s members as to the different approaches that are available for foundations to align their asset management with their missions. Jed's presentation can be downloaded here.

Providing the members with a thorough update on PRIME, Jan-Olaf Willums was the final speaker of the day. He explained how results from the Bellagio Forum’s survey of European foundations indicated some interesting dichotomies. Jan Olaf said, “They (foundations) are concerned about reputational risk, but are not exactly sure how to address it. They think that climate change is important, but have not discussed the issue with their asset managers. There appears to be a clear need for more information. The PRIME will help address that need.”